O Programa de Apoio à Manutenção Acadêmica da Política de Assistência Estudantil do Instituto Federal de Pernambuco: análise de documentos institucionais e percepções de jovens do Ensino Médio Integrado do Campus Caruaru

Abstract

The Student Assistance Policy (PAE) of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Pernambuco (IFPE) encompasses several programs, one of which is the Academic Maintenance Support Program aimed at broadening the conditions for students’ permanence and success at the institution. In this research, we analyze the Academic Maintenance Support Program within the PAE of IFPE through documentary analysis and the perceptions of young students from Integrated High School (EMI) at the Caruaru campus. We constructed three theoretical categories: “Public Policy, Educational Policy, and Social Policy: a conceptual discussion”, based on authors such as Pereira (2009), Höfling (2001) and Behring (2009); “Student Assistance in Brazil: from its origins to the construction of the Policy”, based on authors such as Kowalski (2012), Dutra and Santos (2017), and Rocha and Castro (2024); and “Integrated High School: from historical duality to the defense of polytechnic education”, constructed based on authors such as Moura (2017), Frigotto (2012) and Ciavatta and Ramos (2012); this last category having a subcategory: “Youth and Integrated High School”, based on authors such as Grosbaum and Falsarella (2016), Dayrell and Jesus (2016), and Bernardim and Silva (2017). The study, qualitative in nature, was developed in two stages. In the first, we conducted a document analysis of the PAE (Student Assistance Program) and the Academic Maintenance Support Program, collected from the institutional website of IFPE. In the second stage, we conducted field research with 16 EMI students who were scholarship holders of the Program, using semi-structured interviews. In both stages, we analyzed the data using Bardin’s (2016) Categorical Content Analysis Technique. Overall, the results showed that the Academic Maintenance Support Program is fundamental for the permanence and success of students in situations of social vulnerability. The documentary analysis indicated advances and setbacks in the Program, while the research with young students revealed that it contributes not only to academic maintenance but also to family expenses and access to the institution. Furthermore, the students pointed out obstacles and limitations of the Program, such as budget restrictions and difficulties in understanding the selection process announcement. Based on the research results, we created a Comic Book as an Educational Product, with the objective of sharing information about the Program. We evaluated the comic book with 9 participants through a questionnaire and analyzed the data using Bardin’s (2016) Categorical Content Analysis Technique. The students considered the comic book easy to understand, with accessible language to the young EMI audience, and visual art that draws attention to the content. This study, in addition to contributing to the construction of knowledge about the Academic Maintenance Support Program of the PAE at IFPE and developing an Educational Product aimed at disseminating information about the Program, may also collaborate in the development of public educational and institutional policies that ensure the right to education for young people, especially working-class sons and daughters